Letters to the Editor: Ms. Garet Hayes Duff
The AJT welcomes your letters. If you would like your letter to be published, please write 200 words or less, include your name, phone number and email, and send it to kaylene@atljewishtimes.com.
Letter to the editor,
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Gun Removal for Georgia Abusers
During the end of June, the United States Supreme Court decided U.S. v. Rahimi and upheld the existing law that prohibits individuals who are subject to family violence protective orders from possessing firearms.
Vicky Ogawa Kimbrell, an attorney with Georgia Legal Services Program said, “Despite this law, guns are often being left in the hands of abusers after they have been found to have abused a family member. This can have deadly consequences both for affected families and the general public. Even if you don’t think this law affects you because you aren’t a victim of family violence, researchers found that 68% of mass shooters from 2014-2019 either killed family members or had a history of family violence.”
In 2022, 81% of family violence homicide victims in Georgia were killed by their abusers using a gun. A Johns Hopkins study said a family violence assault involving firearms is 12 times more likely to result in death than one that does not involve a gun. And while family violence happens everywhere, rural women may be more at risk, given the scarcity of family violence services in rural areas.
Some of our local judges, lawyers, and law enforcement officials are diligent about enforcing the law that guns be removed from abusers. Other courts are reluctant to specify in the protective order that guns be removed. And even when the judge specifies that the abuser is not to possess a firearm, confiscating and storing weapons for the duration of the order doesn’t always happen.
Ms. Vicky Ogawa Kimbrell is a trailblazing advocate for Georgians. She was awarded the 24th Annual Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service. As the first Asian-American admitted to the Georgia bar and the Director of the Family Law Unit at Georgia Legal Services Program (www.glsp.org), Ms. Kimbrell has dedicated her career to fighting for marginalized individuals. Her work includes litigating on behalf of women and children denied healthcare, supporting parents with children in foster care, and defending tenants facing eviction from public housing.
Ms. Garet Hayes Duff, Atlanta
comments